PLANNING AND SCHEDULING THE REPAIR SHOPS OF THE DEUTSCHE LUFTHANSA AG: A HIERARCHICAL APPROACH

To plan and schedule the repair shops for recoverable parts at Deutsche Lufthansa AC, we designed a hierarchical model consisting of two levels. The top level calculates the optimal number of parts in the system to guarantee a certain service level while minimizing the capital tied up in parts. Given this provision, the lower level schedules the repair of parts so that the service level is actually maintained. Using queuing theory, the solution gives special attention to the different hierarchical dependencies. Lufthansa has implemented the model for its repair shops of electronic parts. Their experience with the model is discussed briefly.     

‘Female Heroes’: Celebrity Executives as Postfeminist Role Models

This paper explores the significance of contemporary celebrity businesswomen as role models for women aspiring to leadership in business. We explore the kind of gendered ideals they model and promote to women through their autobiographical narratives, and analyse how these ideals map against a contemporary postfeminist sensibility to further understand the potential of these role models to redress the under‐representation of women in management and leadership. Our findings show that celebrity businesswomen present a role model that we call the ‘female hero’, a figure characterized by 3Cs: confidence to jump over gendered barriers; control in managing these barriers; and courage to push through them. We argue that the ‘female hero’ role model is deeply embedded in the contemporary postfeminist sensibility; it offers exclusively individualized solutions to inequality by calling on women to change themselves to succeed, and therefore has limited capacity to challenge the current gendered status quo in management and leadership. The paper contributes to current literature on role models by generating a more differentiated and socially situated understanding of distant female role models in business and extending our understanding of their potential to generate sustainable and long‐term change in advancing gendered change in management and leadership.     

Employee reactions to behavioural control under conditions of stress: the moderating role of self-efficacy

Extensive research conducted in the occupational stress literature has failed to provide convincing support for the stress-buffering effects of work control on employee adjustment. Drawing on research conducted in the laboratory context, it was proposed that the stress-buffering effects of work control on employee adjustment would be more marked at high, rather than low, levels of self-efficacy. In a sample of 100 customer service representatives, a significant three-way interaction among role conflict, work control and self-efficacy (measured at Time 1) was observed on (low) depersonalization (measured at Time 2). Consistent with expectations, work control reduced the negative effects of work stress on this outcome measure only for employees who perceived high levels of self-efficacy at work. In addition, there was evidence to suggest that self-efficacy moderated the main effects of work control on job satisfaction and somatic health. These findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical contribution to the job strain model, and also in relation to workplace interventions designed to improve levels of employee adjustment.     

Exploring the impact of sustainable value proposition on firm performance

Considering the immense potential of sustainable business models in tackling the broader challenge of corporate sustainability, this paper integrates the literature streams on sustainability practices and organizational business models to analyze the performance implications of a firm's sustainable value proposition. Based on the analysis of a large panel dataset across different industries, consistent with the proposed theory, a sustainable value proposition has been found to have a positive impact on a firm's market-based financial performance (namely, Tobin's Q). Yet, this impact turns out to be highly context-dependent. In particular, the findings reveal that a firm's R&D capabilities improve the positive effect of a sustainable value proposition on a firm's financial performance. At the same time, the marketing communication capabilities and sustainable practices regarding employee relations reduce the sustainable value proposition's financial performance effect, arguably due to the costs associated with marketing and the loss in employee interest during the process of adopting the sustainable business model elements.     

Employee reactions to behavioural control under conditions of stress: The moderating role of self-efficacy

Extensive research conducted in the occupational stress literature has failed to provide convincing support for the stress-buffering effects of work control on employee adjustment. Drawing on research conducted in the laboratory context, it was proposed that the stress-buffering effects of work control on employee adjustment would be more marked at high, rather than low, levels of self-efficacy. In a sample of 100 customer service representatives, a significant three-way interaction among role conflict, work control and self-efficacy (measured at Time 1) was observed on (low) depersonalization (measured at Time 2). Consistent with expectations, work control reduced the negative effects of work stress on this outcome measure only for employees who perceived high levels of self-efficacy at work. In addition, there was evidence to suggest that self-efficacy moderated the main effects of work control on job satisfaction and somatic health. These findings are discussed in terms of their theoretical contribution to the job strain model, and also in relation to workplace interventions designed to improve levels of employee adjustment.     

面向我国国立研究机构的人力资源配置模型研究

当今世界,科学技术作为第一生产力的作用日益突出,科学技术作为人类文明进步的基石和原动力的作用日益凸显,而国立研究机构作为中国科研体系的国家队和中坚力量,它的地位和规模在整个科研体系中是举足轻重的,因此合理配置国立研究机构的人力资源具有重大的理论和现实意义。目前的人力资源配置研究多针对企业,而中国的国立研究机构有其自身的特点,不能套用企业的人力资源配置方法。中国科学院作为国家在科学技术方面的最高学术机构,作为科技事业的国家队和火车头,具有代表性,因此本文以中国科学院为例,利用问卷调查、专家访谈、文献调研等方法,对影响我国国立研究机构人力资源配置的因素进行研究,并将人力资源的配置看作一个决策问题,综合考虑了发展战略、人均经费当量、人员结构、学科建设等多个约束,采用自上而下和自下而上相结合的方法,建立了面向国立研究机构的人力资源配置模型。该模型克服了以往国立研究机构对子机构人员数量通过简单趋势外推等方法进行预测的做法,集成了历史数据和专家经验,既不脱离历史情况又能够反映机构的发展战略,是一种适合国立研究机构的人力资源配置方法。该方法在中国科学院的应用实践,验证了模型的有效性。     

组织支持对人力资源措施和员工绩效的影响

通过两项研究,对中国企业情境下员工感知到的组织支持、人力资源管理措施和个人绩效的关系进行了探讨.采用因子分析和回归分析等方法对来自合资,国有,私有等企业的员工及其主管的问卷调查结果进行了数据分析.结果表明:这些企业的人力资源管理措施可以分为保健措施和激励措施两大类.保健措施包括:员工福利、工作环境改善、工作保障、员工薪酬、员工关怀计划;激励措施包括员工培训、职业发展规划.保健措施和激励措施与感知到的组织支持存在交互作用,共同影响员工个人绩效.保健措施对员工绩效的正向影响作用在低水平感知到的组织支持下更显著,激励措施则在高水平感知到的组织支持下具有更显著的正向影响.     

Resilience in Business and Management Research: A Review of Influential Publications and a Research Agenda

This paper identifies the development of and gaps in knowledge in business and management research on resilience, based on a systematic review of influential publications among 339 papers, books and book chapters published between 1977 and 2014. Analyzing these records shows that resilience research has developed into five research streams, or lines of enquiry, which view resilience as (1) organizational responses to external threats, (2) organizational reliability, (3) employee strengths, (4) the adaptability of business models or (5) design principles that reduce supply chain vulnerabilities and disruptions. A review of the five streams suggests three key findings: First, resilience has been conceptualized quite differently across studies, meaning that the different research streams have developed their own definitions, theories and understandings of resilience. Second, conceptual similarities and differences among these streams have not yet been explored, nor have insights been gleaned about any possible generalizable principles for developing resilience. Third, resilience has been operationalized quite differently, with few insights into the empirics for detecting resilience to future adversity (or the absence thereof). This paper outlines emerging research trends and pathways for future research, highlighting opportunities to integrate and expand on existing knowledge, as well as avenues for further investigation of resilience in business and management studies.     

Optimization Model and Algorithm for Crew Management During Airline Irregular Operations

Airline irregular operations have long been a realm where human experience and judgement are the most important tools to utilize. Crew management during irregular operations is usually the bottleneck of the whole system-recovering process due to complicated crew schedules and restrictive crew legalities as well as the size and scope of the hub-and-spoke networks adopted by major carriers. A system-wide multi-commodity integer network flow model and a heuristic search algorithm for the above purpose are presented and discussed in this paper. The computational experiences show that the algorithm is efficient enough to solve problems of realistic size and also has the flexibility to accommodate practical business requirements.     

A MARKET UTILITY‐BASED MODEL FOR CAPACITY SCHEDULING IN MASS SERVICES

Only a small set of employee scheduling articles have considered an objective of profit or contribution maximization, as opposed to the traditional objective of cost (including opportunity costs) minimization. In this article, we present one such formulation that is a market utility‐based model for planning and scheduling in mass services (MUMS). MUMS is a holistic approach to market‐based service capacity scheduling. The MUMS framework provides the structure for modeling the consequences of aligning competitive priorities and service attributes with an element of the firm's service infrastructure. We developed a new linear programming formulation for the shift‐scheduling problem that uses market share information generated by customer preferences for service attributes. The shift‐scheduling formulation within the framework of MUMS provides a business‐level model that predicts the economic impact of the employee schedule. We illustrated the shift‐scheduling model with empirical data, and then compared its results with models using service standard and productivity standard approaches. The result of the empirical analysis provides further justification for the development of the market‐based approach. Last, we discuss implications of this methodology for future research.     

Adapting a Lean Production Program to National Institutions in Latin America: Danone in Argentina and Brazil

This article argues that national institutions identified in the varieties of capitalism approach have a significant impact on the degree of fidelity and extensiveness of best practices adapted by geocentric multinational corporations in host countries in emerging markets. To illustrate this argument it shows how differences in national institutions between Brazil and Argentina caused Danone to adapt a lean production in radically different ways in each of these countries. Both of the programs implemented had low degrees of fidelity and extensiveness to the original best practice. This article contends that in Argentina strong labor laws and the ability of unions to negotiate significant salary increases combined with a desire of workers to have individual pride in their jobs caused Danone to empower them individually instead of creating teams as foreseen in this company's original lean production program. In Brazil the weakness of unions combined with labor laws that promote employee turnover and the desire of workers to improve their salaries caused this company neither to empower workers nor create teams. Instead, it motivated workers by providing them the previously unavailable opportunity to become a manager.     

Does governance confer organisational resilience? Evidence from UK employee owned businesses

Current economic crisis has highlighted the importance of an organization’s ability to withstand economic shocks. This has rekindled interest in organization resilience on the one hand, and the relationship between alternative governance forms such as employee owned businesses (EOBs) on the other. We explore this relationship using performance data on 204 publicly traded non-employee owned businesses and 49 EOBs prior to the economic downturn (2004–2008), and during the economic downturn (2008–2009). This data is complemented with a survey of resilience related governance and organizational practices in 41 EOBs and 22 non-EOBs. Our results show that: (a) employee ownership that is combined with employee involvement in firm governance is associated with greater stability in business performance over a business cycle; (b) EOBs have longer investment payback horizon when compared to non-EOBs across a number of activities; (c) Top management in EOBs are more likely to seek employee input in strategic decision making; (d) EOBs are more likely to use employee involvement to achieve tighter coupling between feedback from operations and the setting of strategic direction for the firm. These results suggest that employee stock ownership programs alone are not sufficient to develop higher levels of organizational resilience. Managers must combine employee stock ownership with employee involvement in governance if they wish to build up resilience in advance of adverse economic conditions.     

Giving as Good as They Get? Organization and Employee Expectations of Ethical Business Practice

Corporate malpractice and malfeasance on an unprecedented scale have brought ethical issues to the fore and accentuated demands from activists, governments, and the public for greater corporate social responsibility (CSR). The predominant response of researchers and policymakers has been to focus on the external impact of business operations and the merits of regulation or persuasion in achieving more responsible practice in these areas. In this article, we focus on a less well explored aspect of CSR, namely the evaluation of an organization's CSR activities by its internal stakeholders (i.e., employees). Salient CSR literature is reviewed to differentiate between CSR and ethical business practice (EBP), conceptualizing the latter as the internal manifestation of CSR as represented by an organization's values and vision, strategy and policy, systems and procedures, and people management practices. This article assesses organizational espousal of EBP in three ways: how successfully it is communicated to employees, how closely espousal aligns with employee expectation, and how this evaluation impacts on employee commitment. Our research approach aligns with and extends previous work in this area that identifies the likelihood of a “false consensus bias” by managers in assuming congruence between organization espousal of EBP and employee expectation. A conceptual model is offered to explain possible employee responses to an organization's EBP. This relates organization espousal of EBP to employee assessment of its salience to identify three positions on commitment that employees can adopt—abrogated, continuance, and affective commitment—together with their likely behavioral implications. The analysis generates a series of research questions and related areas of exploration to empirically test the conceptual model.     

R&D员工领导创新期望、内部动机与创新行为研究

在现代组织行为研究领域推动员工创造、创新的组织行为研究是一个热点问题。本文通过对我国跨地区企业研发员工的问卷调查研究对领导创新期望、员工内部工作动机及其创新行为间的关系进行了实证探讨。研究发现,在我国背景下,直属领导对下属员工的创新期望、员工之间横向交换对研发员工创新的行为都具有正向预测作用,其中员工内在工作动机在领导创新期望、员工横向交换对员工创新行为的作用路径关系中起到中介效应。本研究的调查结论不仅有助于加深我们对组织内员工创新行为推动和作用机制的深入了解,同时也会对我国企业,特别是高新技术企业推动员工创新的管理实践提供借鉴。     

家族企业接班人的胜任—绩效建模——基于越商代际传承的实证分析

接班人的选择与培养对于家族企业的生存发展至关重要。本文通过文献回顾、深度访谈和问卷调查方式,采用探索性和验证性因子分析方法构建了家族企业接班人的胜任—绩效模型。结果显示,模型具有较好的拟合度,家族企业接班人胜任能力包括社会网络、政府关系、发现机会、承担风险、资源整合、战略决策、学习创新和科学管理八个因子,其中,前四个因子和后四个因子可以分别归属于管理素质和管理技能两个一级因子;家族企业的继承绩效包括客观绩效和主观绩效两个因子,其中,客观绩效包括人才结构、产品技术、品牌形象、市场份额、利润增长和企业规模六个二级因子,而主观绩效主要包括家族满意和员工满意两个二级因子;社会网络、学习创新、政府关系、资源整合等因子对于家族企业的继承绩效具有更显著的相关性关系,而社会网络和政府关系对于企业继承的影响颇具中国特色。     

裁员视角下人力资源的有效激励与代理成本分析

在假定产出可以观测的条件下,构造含裁员概率的企业与员工之间的委托-代理激励模型,把企业的裁员概率与员工的实际业绩结合起来,针对员工素质类型是对称信息和非对称信息,分别探讨含产出-工资合同的企业激励机制设计,比较两种不同信息结构下不同激励效应,分析非对称信息下实施合同的代理成本.     

Evaluating training and development practices in Taiwan: challenges and opportunities

The purpose of this article is to explore the status and challenges of employee training and development (T&D) in Taiwan. Literature review suggested that government intervention, vocational and technical education, social network, and organizational structures are the key factors that influence T&D practices in Taiwan. Taiwanese government plays a major role in promoting value-added production and skilled workforce in the organizations via developing various national labour enhancement policies, strategies and regulations and providing a set of training subsidies for employee T&D. The promotion of Taiwan TrainQuali System in Taiwan is one of the major national employee T&D policies that motivates and forces the corporations to cultivate their manpower. The challenges are evident when corporations adapt and apply Western T&D models or programmes. This study investigates T&D applications in Taiwan and provides a guide to practitioners to overcome challenges in terms of implementing T&D practices in Taiwan. Implications and recommendations for practice and future research were also discussed.     

Managing Employee Compliance with Information Security Policies: The Critical Role of Top Management and Organizational Culture*

We develop an individual behavioral model that integrates the role of top management and organizational culture into the theory of planned behavior in an attempt to better understand how top management can influence security compliance behavior of employees. Using survey data and structural equation modeling, we test hypotheses on the relationships among top management participation, organizational culture, and key determinants of employee compliance with information security policies. We find that top management participation in information security initiatives has significant direct and indirect influences on employees’ attitudes towards, subjective norm of, and perceived behavioral control over compliance with information security policies. We also find that the top management participation strongly influences organizational culture which in turn impacts employees’ attitudes towards and perceived behavioral control over compliance with information security policies. Furthermore, we find that the effects of top management participation and organizational culture on employee behavioral intentions are fully mediated by employee cognitive beliefs about compliance with information security policies. Our findings extend information security research literature by showing how top management can play a proactive role in shaping employee compliance behavior in addition to the deterrence oriented remedies advocated in the extant literature. Our findings also refine the theories about the role of organizational culture in shaping employee compliance behavior. Significant theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Leadership in the Academic Field of Business and Management and the Question of Country of Origin: A Commentary on Burgess and Shaw (2010)

With globalization in business academia expanding and deepening, it is timely to question the validity and utility of the concept of country of origin as a base category for comparative cross‐cultural research and theory development. In their contribution in the British Journal of Management, Burgess and Shaw (2010) rank the most productive institutions and countries contributing to board membership of top ranked journals on the basis of their country of origin. Taking their findings as a starting point for our discourse, we re‐analyse their database, in addition to our own investigations. We contend that while country of origin may be an appropriate category for between‐countries comparison of multinational entities, it is of little use when comparing meta‐national institutions, such as top tier refereed journal boards and the globalized business/management schools from which they are drawn. Our findings point towards the need for finer differentiation of what constitutes the concept country of origin, but also that its relevance should be questioned in, at least, globalized contexts. The question we pose extends to any pertinent ‘globalized’ topic within and without business and management.